Mexico's Strays
by MusicSavesMe711
Summary: N. Mexico picks up strays and cares for them until they're healthy enough to go to new homes... This one, though, stays with him forever.


**Disclaimer: I do not own Hetalia. This was written as a request for notehaceswey on tumblr~**

Eduardo sighed to himself as he made his way through the city, kicking a pebble ahead of him as he walked. It had been a bad day; he'd had a meeting with Alfred, and they'd done nothing but argue the entire time. He could deal with the boy on a good day, especially if he'd had some alcohol, but he hadn't been quite so lucky today. Alfred had called himself America, insisted on calling him Ed, and then nagged him about why his flag and Italy's flag were so similar. It was as if the annoying man had gone on his blog, read the list of things he didn't like, and then proceeded to do all of them just to tick him off. Well, it had worked. Eduardo's throat felt sore from screaming obscenities- both Spanish and English- and he felt drained from the fighting. But still, he couldn't sleep; he had work to do, and he couldn't afford to be groggy after his self-afforded break. Instead, he had to settle with taking a walk to clear his mind. So far, he'd spent the entire walk cursing the stupid American in his head, so that wasn't working.

_"Dios mio,"_ he sighed. "I just can't get away from the _cabrón_."

He was pulled from his agitated and melancholy thoughts by a soft sound coming from somewhere just around the corner, where Eduardo knew there was a small park, if it could even be called that. It was more like a garden with a duck pond; no one really spent much time there, but Eduardo liked it despite that- or perhaps because of it. The sound immediately set off alarm bells in Eduardo's head; it was a whimpering akin to a child's cry, the kind of sound only made by a small animal in pain. Eduardo hurried into the park, searching through the flowers and bushes for whatever creature had made the sound.

_"__¿Dónde estas? Te prometo que no te hare daño..._" (Where are you? I promise that I won't hurt you…) Eduardo tracked the whimpers to a dark corner under a bench, where a dark brown puppy with shaggy, matted fur was curled up nursing a bloody paw. Eduardo's mouth turned down in a frown and he knelt before the injured animal.

_"Ya estas bien. Te ayudare a sentirte mejor._" (It's okay. I'm going to help you get better.) The smooth, rhythmic sound of the language seemed to calm the pup down a bit. "Do you want to come home with me?" Eduardo extended a hand towards the mutt, hoping it didn't decide to snap at him. He was up to date on all of the shots he needed to prevent any diseases he might get from a bite, but he didn't fancy a trip to the doctor, anyway. He was relieved when the puppy sniffed at his hand without trying to draw blood, and he perked up further when she struggled to her feet, limping closer to him in seek of comfort. All traces of the meeting with Alfred were banished from his mind. Gently, he scooped the animal up into his arms and rose to his feet. He murmured softly to her in Spanish as he carried her back to his house, and by the time they had arrived her eyes had drifted shut.

"You really do like Spanish, don't you, _Perrita_." The dog didn't stir, and she remained asleep as Eduardo unlocked his door and slipped inside, only waking when he set her down on the counter gently. "Sh, sh, _relaja._" The dog immediately sighed and closed her eyes again, allowing Eduardo to rummage through his cabinets for a first aid kit. It took him longer than he felt comfortable with- what if he'd needed it for an emergency?- but he found it and pulled out a roll of bandages. He wet a cloth in the sink and began cleaning the blood from the wound as gently as he could so that he could see the extent of the damage. It appeared that the puppy had cut her paw on a fence or some other sharp edge, but nothing seemed to be serious; the bandages would be all Eduardo needed to help her heal.

The puppy licked at Eduardo's face as he tied the bandages around her paw and he smiled.

"Stop that, _Perrita_. Let me fix you up." The puppy tilted her head, making one of her ears fall over her eyes. She shook it off as Eduardo chuckled at her. "I think I'm going to like having you stay here with me."


End file.
